Wash Away Thoes Years
by KassieBoyd
Summary: Linkara never really bothered to ask Linksano about himself. It seemed self explanatory, really. But, why does it seem like he knows so much about Vyce?
1. Chapter 1

AN: Sorry if this is a bit dry. It's been awhile since I've written fanfiction and this is my first try at AT4W and its characters. If there are plot inconstancies, as well as weird typos, grammar errors, or if you have ideas for the story, please let me know.  
-

There was no other way, no other answer, he was certain of it.

Linksano had rattled his brain for days and everything he had come up with was useless and would be impossible to put into effect as long as Vyce had his ship, shades, and the power of his armor.

He didn't want to encounter Lord Vyce again. He didn't want to be anywhere near that man, but every scenario he dreamed up ended with another world destroyed and another set of people he had... attached himself to would be dead.

Unless he interfered, there would not be a chance.

There was no one better than him for the task. He had been aboard the ship and knew it mostly inside out. Once Vyce's anger had quelled, he had have a bit of freedom, though it'd be nothing like when he was first on the ship. No, he would have to slowly earn Vyce's trust again before he could gain access to the parts that would be most beneficial to the plan.

Maybe he was mad. He knew people he had worked with back home had labeled him eccentric, but he had never cared what others thought of him. He had went to school for himself, for his love of robots and software, for his brother.

Everything was done for his brother.

With Wayne's death, Vyce had proved that it was impossible to defeat him through pure offense, and the only thing they had never tried was an inside man.

Wayne would be against the idea, he knew. His brother would have never placed him in that kind of danger. While he had his quirks, he was always the valiant protector and would go above and beyond to keep his loved ones safe, especially his brother. He had known what Vyce wanted from his little brother and would have not created an opportunity for him to get it.

But now, Linksano would give it to him, this time willingly.

The thought of going back to Vyce and letting him touch him made his stomach churn and every muscle in his body tense and quiver from fear. Vyce would beat him for having left and evaded him thus far. He would then, while his anger still roared, strip him of his clothing and force him to his bed. It'd be a never ending hell for weeks.

As he brought up the video feed to call Linkara, he hoped it'd be worth it.  
-

It had been a month since Linkara was taken aboard Lord Vyce's ship, though to Linkara it was only three days.

It was three days too many, really.

While his time aboard hadn't been terrible, it hadn't been pleasant either. Vyce was neither a gracious host nor cruel to him. He only kept Linkara in a cell large enough to stand and pace a few meager steps to a toilet or bed and gave him small but acceptable meals of bread, water, and fruit.

It had been enough to exist on, which was better than what he could have expected from enemies like Mechakara. Aside from the scanning of his person and a general medical exam, it seemed that Vyce had no interest in him.

Vyce, however, was still very much an unknown threat if his reputation said anything about him and Linkara needed to prepare for the worst case scenario. He had begun with studying the Shades that had been teleported back with him, but that angle had become a dead end quickly.

Then Linksano had contacted him with a proposal.

Linkara couldn't remember a time when the other had dropped all the mad clich s and spoke to him seriously. Gone was the goofiness that seemed to haunt all Insano's. What looked back at Linkara was a sweating, fidgety man. If he removed his goggles, Linkara would guess that Linksano hadn t been sleeping well.

"We have a similar interest, Linkara. Lord Vyce is very dangerous and will stop at nothing, absolutely nothing, to get what he wants. I'm tired of running from him, and if this continues, there will be nowhere to run. You need to know what his intentions are, am I correct?"

Linksano continued without waiting for an answer. "Then I will be 'caught' by Lord Vyce and offer him my..."

He didn't expect the pause or the shiver Linksano tried to keep from his shoulders. "I will offer my services. I will work from behind the scenes to insure your victory as long as you agree to defeat him."

"That was always my intention. How long do you expect it to take to get on board?"

Linksano's shoulders dropped from their tense pose and sighed. "Not long, I'd imagine."

"Why do you think that? Vyce doesn't seem to be a trusting guy."

"No, he is not," Linksano agreed and turned his head away from the screen. "But he has need of a mechanical technician. It is...beneath him to service his own robots and ship. He would rather push that work onto someone else."

"You seem to know an awful lot about how Vyce-"

"Do you agree or not?"

He flinched at the sudden volume of Linksano's words. He didn't want him to know something, which was a clear connection between him and Vyce, but if he wasn't willing to tell him, Linkara wasn't going to ask about it anymore.

In reality, it could wait, as dealing with Vyce was more important than anything but what Linksano could offer him in information.

"Yes."

"Good. When I am aboard his ship, I will contact you. Insure your lines are secured."

And Linksano disconnected the call.

Well, that was abrupt. All he can do now is secure his defense until he knew what his offence was suppose to be.  
-

Vyce's rage was just as he had imagined.

The Shades on either side of him gripped his arms painfully, having discarded most of his clothing and small bits of gear. Even his goggles had been casted away in a heap, his bare face showing just how much alike he and Linkara were.

"Why did you teleport back into this dimension?"

He did well to hide it. Vyce was never one show out right anger. He would hold it back until it suddenly burst from his person, preferably in privet and with Linksano close by. Right now, there was only a trembling fist.

Linksano lifted his head to look right up into Vyce's visor. "I'm tired of running."

"Despite my kindness, you ran away from me. I fed and clothed you. Kept you safe from the Entity and death from alien worlds, yet you spat in my face by leaving."

Linksano scoffed. BAH! Kindness. Vyce was nothing but a delusional self important sack of shit that had kept him prisoner for years, torturing him daily with either rapes or beatings depending on how good he had been that day. If he was capable of it, he would love to crush Vyce himself.

Vyce pulled painfully at the hair on the back of his head. He needed to do his best to placate Vyce so he could minimize the damage. "I-I'm sorry!" he rushed out through clenched teeth.

"I have searched for you for months, wondering if you had suffocated or been killed! I have been worried and even lost sight of the Entity because of you! And all you would say to me is 'sorry'?"

"Sorry is all I have, Blue."

For all that he was intelligent, he wasn't smart. While he had meant it sincerely, if only to avoided making Vyce angrier, that wasn't how Vyce clearly took it.

Only in Vyce's most violent moments did he ever punch him. It was typically back hands or choking. The Shades never let him fall to his knees and Vyce alternated his attacks between his face, chest, and back. By the time Vyce raked the glove s claws down his sides, Linksano knew that Vyce will now take out the rest of his frustration in the bedroom.

Vyce pulls him free of the Shades and carries Linksano to his thrown. He tenses, his breath panicked. Vyce wasn't going to...not in front of the Shades!

He does. He forces Linksano to his knees and bends him over, smashing his face into the seat of the captain's chair. He makes quick work of their pants and roughly shoves in.

Mindless robots or not, having witnesses is humiliating. He doesn't want to see them watching, so he crushes his eyes closed and chants in his mind why he's suffering through this again.

He s doing this to stop Vyce so that he doesn't have to run anymore. He s doing this to give Linkara a fighting chance. He s going to avenge Wayne. He s going to avenge Spoonette. He s going to give himself peace at last.

At long last.

He had thought enduring this again would be bearable as long as he could give Linkara the means to stop Vyce. Right now, he wished he'd just kept running and never had let guilt influence him.

It was painful and quick, Vyce's strength making it impossible to move away. All he was able to do is scream in pain until Vyce came while saying his name, whispering promises of never letting him go again. It burns his insides and he knew it was imagined, but it felt like it was crawling up inside him, taking over him.

Vyce pulled out and moved away, leaving Linksano a cold, shivering mess of sweat and blood. "Clean up your mess and then go to our room. Shade, insure he does as he's told."

Linksano doesn't need to see that Vyce has put himself away and is now focused on his computers. He also doesn't believe for a second that Vyce is finished with him.

Vyce will insure that all his operations are running smoothly before he meets Linksano in the captain s quarters, spending the rest of the day with him in a cycle of fucking and fists.

'God,' he thinks to himself, speaking only to the minuscule speck of hope that is quickly dying. 'Let this be worth it.'  
-

It was several weeks before Linksano contacted him again. Linkara had managed to find some free time to write a draft for the next comic on his schedule. He was almost finished with the Goddeyssy draft when Pollo interrupted him.

"Lin-ka-ra, Link-sa-no is cal-ling and he looks aw-ful."

He saved his file and closed it before he brought up the program for video calls. "When doesn't he look awful?"

"No, I'm not jo-king. It looks like some-one hit-"

The call connected and Linkara was face to face with what was indeed an awful looking Linksano. His goggles were on as usual, but nothing could mask the ugly bruise on his cheek or the puffy bottom lip.

"Good lord! What happened to you?"

Linksano used his left hand to gesture to his face. Wasn't he right handed?

"Vyce has anger problems. He's finally calmed down now, which is why I'm calling."

"No, forget the plan. We're not putting your life in dange-"

"Mechakara is back. I know of him from the records Vyce has of your last battle. You might not want to post things like that online.

"Vyce has me installing upgrades and by the time I'm done, Mechakara will have an energy shield that will be very hard to break as well as increased strength. You will need a very large energy blast to disable it; however, I've had to close the background port, so it'll be impossible for Pollo to take him down that way again."

Linksano was firing all of this information at them at lightning speed and it was clear that he wasn't interested in Linkara's order to step down.

Though, granted, he'd only agreed to be a part of Linksano's plan. Never did either say who was in charge of what the other did or didn't do.

In truth, if Linksano was caught, he was sure to get worse than a bruise and fat lip from Vyce. But, why would Vyce hurt him if Linksano was freely joining his side as far as he knew?

Damn, why hadn't he thought about how dangerous this was for him before jumping in and agreeing? Surely Linksano knew though, right? He'd volunteered himself, knowing full well what could happen if Vyce so much as suspected a spy.

"Now, I'm not sure what they're planning for the immediate future. Vyce wouldn't let me in on that, but it seems Mechakara wants to do something covert. I've seen a group of weirdoes on the ship as of yesterday; but again, Vyce is keeping me from them so I'm unable to say more about them.'

Linksano moved forward, likely toward the button to end communication. He lifted his right hand, wincing as he switched hands and continued speaking. "My next report should come much sooner-"

"Linksano!"

He was shocked into silence for a moment, before stuttering out a reply. "Y-yes?"

"Thank you for this and please be safe. I mean it. I appreciate this and understand that there are major risks involved, but don't put yourself in harm s way. There's no reason to-"

"There are worse things than death, Linkara. I've already encountered them and there's nothing more to lose."

The image faded as the call was terminated.

Linksano had thrown away his concern on top of devaluing himself. Why? That was completely uncharacteristic of Linksano, who shouted as much as Insano about how much of a genius he was.

Did he...really think of himself like that or was it because he was with Vyce?

It left a heavy weight in Linkara's chest, but he couldn't dwell on that now. He was very fortunate to learn of Mechakara's return as well as upgrades on top of whatever it was that he and Vyce were planning to do.

"Pollo, did you get all of that?"

"Yes."

"Good. Erase all records of the call and meet me in the arsenal room. We'll need the most powerful weapons to take down Mechakara."

"90's Kid will love it." 


	2. Chapter 2

AN: I currently don't have access to the internet, so I'm unable to check various plot things, like when did Linkara first hear of Vyce conquering 16 worlds.  
-

Every aspect of Mechakara is terrifying.

He is like the Shades, cold and uninterested unless it has to do with machines or the 'mission', but unlike them, he has what many would call a soul; a sense of existing, an ability to think for himself with no outside interference and act upon those thoughts.

Linksano knows these thoughts currently involve Vyce.

There is no question that something about Vyce has captured Mechakara's interest despite that he is clearly human underneath the armor he wears.

Maybe he is afraid of Vyce, or at least of Vyce's power. The stories about Vyce have spread far and wide through many dimensions. Linksano knew some of the stories have been spread by a handful of Shades Vyce sent out for scouting missions. Mechakara's world must have been one of those, as he quickly agreed to a deal with Vyce to leave his dimension alone and did not want to look Vyce in the face; though Vyce never took his helmet off for anyone but Linksano.

Perhaps he knows how lucky he is to be put back together and isn't sure how to compute Vyce's generosity with what he believes of humans. Vyce certainly didn't bring him back for generosity's sake. No, for some insane reason, Linkara had posted his near death battle with the being he called Mechakara to his website, where anyone could see it. He was proud of his hard earned victory for sure, but what if one of his enemies saw it? Did he even think about those like Vyce and how it could be used against him?

Mechakara's interest could be some kind of reverence. Vyce took care of his ship and robotic Shades, or rather, Linksano did, but he didn't know what Vyce did before he had Linksano. Regardless, it was clear that Vyce didn't program the Shades to serve him. They served Vyce of their own limited free will. It was likely they came with the ship as crew and saw Vyce as the one in charge of the ship and answered to him with no resistance and no complaints.

Being around his own kind likely placated Mechakara as well. He couldn t fault him for that.

Linksano has a very flexible personality. He is at home being alone in a lab somewhere for days, but he can only stand being without another person for so long. He always had Wayne to be with, especially during very long and tedious experiments and builds, but he knew even then that eventually he needed to drop everything that didn't need his immediate attention and seek a night out with someone, anyone, as long as it was another person.

Being captured by Vyce made him realize just how desperate he is for human contact. How much he needs to engage in conversation, how much he needs to be touched. Linksano has tried so hard to ignore Vyce, he really has, but the coldness of the ship and the silence and the mundane routine of it all forces him to give into Vyce's caresses and mockery of date night meals and chatter. He wants a friend again, a companion, someone to be close to.

When the only other human on board is his captor, his lonely mind starts swirling and confusing abuse for affection. It drives Linksano mad on a daily basis.

Vyce will leave him alone for days or weeks at a time. He will not show interest in him or acknowledge his existence. On more than one occasion Linksano fears that he has displeased Vyce, only to flip flop between being glad that Vyce wants nothing to do with him and realizing that he is going to go another day without something to break the monotony. Sometimes, he won't come for Linksano until he is well past the breaking point and will comply with anything Vyce feels like doing.

There are occasions where Linksano's desperate mind will try to resist Vyce when he finally wants him. It always ends with beatings and rape. Once every blue moon, Vyce will treat these refusals from a broken man with alcohol. Depending on where the liquor came from, it can be intoxicating enough to keep him sedated for days while Vyce does as he pleases with his body.

He hates to admit it, but Vyce can be romantic and sexy when he wants, and after a time Linksano helplessly falls for it. The love making-no, it's rape, it was always rape despite how pleasing it was, he had to remind himself-is gentle and slow. Vyce has learned what he likes, and takes his time, making sure Linksano is a warm, happy mess by the end of it.

He feels so guilty afterward, so ashamed. He still feels guilty. He is guilty.

He is guilty of giving into Vyce, guilty of being fooled by Vyce, guilty of loosing Vyce's affection, guilty of being too weak to resist him, being too stubborn to completely give in. He is guilty of being afraid, afraid to live and afraid to die, but he is most guilty of betraying his brother. Wayne gave his life to defend him and he repaid his brother's sacrifice by sleeping with his killer and barely fighting back each and every night.

Dying, he knows, is too good for him. Everything Vyce subjects him to, even now while working for Linkara, is his punishment.  
-

Silent Hill Dead/Alive wasn't on his schedule, but he felt compelled to review it. 'Because it was October,' he'd thought at the time, and he could finally get the crappy series over and done with.

Linkara honestly loved the horror genre, but he would have never guessed the Magic Gun contained such a terrible history. Her suffering made him angry at the cult, at the girl's parents, and if he could, he'd do anything to restore the girl, to give her peace.

He'd even give up his own life if she required it. His willingness to do anything to end her suffering was what made it so easy for Mechakara to manipulate his mind.

Thankfully, she hadn't wanted that. She liked him, saw goodness in him that had once been herself. He was her friend even though he hadn't been aware that his gun was more than a magical object he'd found.

A partner, she had called him.

Well, called was a simple way to put it. He had felt her will and she had conveyed her feelings in a way that only emotion could travel: through the heart and to the soul.

Being a machine, that wasn't something Mechakara could understand. He'd been exposed to a brief burst of memories and thought that that was all there was to it since humans were nothing but abusive sacks of meat and bone to him.

It was depressing to him, but Linkara supposed that was a saving grace. Had Mechakara been able to learn of the girl's real feelings, he would have been sure to block them. If that had happened, then Linkara definitely would have...

'There are worse things than death, Linkara. I've experienced them.'

The lingering effects of the Order s magic were still assaulting him, leading him to momentary bouts of spiraling thoughts. When he'd start staring down into that mental black pit, what Linksano had said would reverberate around in his head and sober him.

It was strange. He could still feel the connection with the Magic Gun, which was pleasant and warm, but it was a memory of Linksano that woke him up from his lapses in sanity.

'There are worse things than death.'

What could be worse than death? Linkara couldn't think of anything and most of what he did, it was superficial.

If he couldn't read comic books anymore, not only would he not have a show, but he'd miss out on good comics. And, yeah, he'd miss the income his show brought him every month, but it wasn't like he didn't have other talents. He was very good at building robots thanks to what he learned when creating Pollo and he had his magic to help him out until he was settled into his life without comics.

Assuming he could keep his magic. It was more lucrative than robots in the right markets, but he really didn't want to spend time enchanting toys to make them behave as if they were the real thing. After all, that took time and chance to work. It wasn't always accurate when it took either. He'd thought it was a great idea to make his Bulbasaur plush into a real Bulbasaur until the damn thing refused to listen to him. Those vines were so annoying to deal with.

He could be friendless, he supposed. That was something that would hurt him worse than the comic books, for months if not years. Sure, he could always make new friends eventually, but he couldn't bear to part with Pollo, Harvey, Liz, or anyone else. They not only were reliable and trusted fighters, but they had been his best friends for years. He'd never be able to fill that void.

He could be homeless. That would be just as bad as losing his friends. He had many enemies that would love to fight him when he didn't have a safe haven to retreat back to and lock intruders out.

That was something worse than death, he realized; being tortured for no reason than someone's sick pleasure. Insano would likely have a field day with him testing all kinds of things while Mechakara had just put him literally through hell.

What else though? Linkara couldn't think of much else. He listed them again in his head: losing his comics, his job, his magic, his friends, his home...having and being nothing to no one.

Nothing.

Being nothing.

That...would be an awful existence. Would it even be existing? Being nothing but existing?

'I've experienced it.'

Yes, that had to be true. By his own admission, Linksano was forced to abandon everything in order to get away from Vyce. It was hard to imagine a crazy guy like him having friends, a job, and a home, but he must have had that originally before Vyce took it away, right?

What about restarting? If he was reduced to starting from scratch, he'd definitely make a new life in a new world.

Yes, this is what he'd do.

But another haunting thought drifted in: What if Vyce appeared there too and took everything again? Would he flee and try again? How many times would he try before he gave up?

Sixteen worlds.

Sixteen.

Which one of those had been Linksano's? Had he and Vyce been to sixteen worlds or had they been to more while Vyce had conquered sixteen thus far? How many times did he restart his life? Did Vyce really take everything from him?

"Uhg," Linkara pressed his palms to his forehead. He really needed to get up off the couch. He wasn't going to get a nap any time soon and he might as well get back to work. "My head hurts."

"Hey, Kid. I was wondering if you were awake."

Linkara opened his eyes to see a dapper man who looked like he stepped right out of the 1920's looking down at him. "Oh, hey Harvey. When did you get here?"

"Just a bit ago. I thought I'd check up on ya after last week's craziness."

He sat up with a groan. Yeah, he was going to need aspirin. "I'm fine, but still off balance from the experience."

Harvey pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket and taped one out of its pack. "Doin' anything important tonight?" He asked after placing it in his mouth, fishing in his poket for his lighter.

"No, figured I'd work on the next review."

"Wanna grab the 'bot and head out for karaoke? Or pool if ya don't feel up ta singing."

"Well, Liz and 90's Kid went out to see a movie. She said that they'll pick up burgers, so probably after dinner."

Harvey inhaled as he lit up and flicked both the pack and lighter back into his pocket. He pulled the cigarette from his lips and puffed out a stream of smoke. "Ya didn't go with 'em?"

"I was tired and thought I'd get some rest," he said as he closed his eyes and rubbed his head.

"Look, Kid, I'm gonna be straight up with ya. Ya need ta get out some more. Stayin' in here all the time isn't good for ya."

Linkara shrugged, "I get out some. Hey, I'm going out with you tonight after dinner."

"Only when we ask you or when you're the only one who can do the grocery run."

"I am not 'that' bad." He said before he twised his lips slightly and added, "Am I?"

"Well, you're nowhere close to bein' a shut-in, but ya seem off lately."

Linkara opened his mouth to reply, but Harvey stopped him. "I know it's none of my business what you do, but we're concerned about you. All of us, Kid. Especially Iron."

He bowed his head before slowly standing up, giving Harvey time to move out of the way. "Sorry, I've just had a lot on my mind with Vyce and Mechakara and wondering how Linksano's doin-"

"The Kook? Why worry about him?" By now, Linkara had moved down the hall toward the bathroom to locate aspirin with Harvey behind him.

"Pollo informed you about the last message, right?"

"Yeah, Vyce gave 'im a shiner," he replied as Linkara opened the mirror cabinet. "We've likely given him the same in fights."

"I know, but I don't like knowing that Vyce is hurting him. It's...different."

"Different?"

"I don't really know how to explain it. Is there an extra cup on the linen rack?"

"I think there's some in the vanity." Harvey flicked his ashes into the toilet. "Anyway, I don't think it's anything to concern yourself over. He's the one who came up with the plan and if he felt he really was in danger, you and I both know he'd never volunteer for it himself."

Linkara filled his cup with water and popped two pills in his mouth. He drained the water from the cup before speaking again. "But that's the thing. He only showed up to tell me that he was leaving this dimension because Vyce showed up. I tried to make fun of him for fleeing, since I thought it was due to the fight at the convention, but he just laughed at me like it was the funniest joke he'd ever heard.

"I mean, if he fled both his world and this one simply because Vyce showed up, he must be completely terrified of him. Why offer to go aboard his ship when he can keep running to different universes?"

He turned to exit the bathroom and Harvey did the same, leading Linkara back into the kitchen where they sat at the table. "Didn't he say that he was tired of running?"

"Again, Linksano's terrified of Vyce. We've intimidated him before and I know Pollo's caught him in the apartment once and threw him into the trash down stairs, but he's never..."

"Fled and never came back?"

"Yeah, it's more like he's just having fun annoying us. I mean, a few months ago he snuck in here and switched the wax for Pollo's body with 'carrot' scented wax. He left the licorice flavored cigarettes knowing full well you hated them but needed a pack and Liz still isn't sure what to do about the electric nail polish he mailed her."

"Electric nail polish?"

"Oh, it looks cool on her, but she can't touch anyone with it on other wise she shocks them."

Harvey rolled his head as he tapped the ashes of his cigarette into the ashtray. "Goggles' a bunch of trouble."

Linkara laughs lightly and continues. "I know Linksano 'can' be dangerous, but all he wants is attention like a little kid. Vyce shows up and he drops all of that..." He gestures with his hand, rolling in quick circles a few times till he finds the word he's looking for. "Fun, as it were. It's got me wondering just what Vyce can really do if he wants. What he 'has' done if Linksano of all people is going to treat his arrival so seriously."

"Kid, Vyce is bigger and badder than any of us and at the end of it all, Linksano's just a scared, little mouse. He's probably so scared now that it's looped back on him."

"Looped back?"

"If someone's afraid enough, they'll fight tooth and nail to save themselves, even when they have nothin' more to lose."

'There's nothing more to lose.'

That was a lie then. Linksano still had something to lose if he'd decided to fight back against Vyce, something that could cost him his life. 


	3. Chapter 3

AN: I tried to write Linksano as demisexual. Demisexuality is more the attraction of personality over looks. You really have to know and care for someone before your brain goes "Yeah, I'm sexually attracted to that person". It could take anywhere from months to years depending on personal interests and tastes. This doesn't mean anyone a demisexual gets close to is going to activate latent sexual interest, just that the possibility is there. For Vyce's appearance, I'm thinking an older Garry Oak (thus he'd be Japanese), but named Blue. My head cannon says it's Blue (maybe Green) over Red. Most of the images I find of Blue give him green eyes.

Also, spot the accidentl Transformers reference.  
-

Vyce pulls his turtleneck over his head, leaving Linksano to discard it somewhere on the floor. He sucks the newly exposed nipple as his hand snakes down Linksano s back and into is unbuckled pants, past the waist of his underwear to squeeze his ass.

Uh, Blue he gasps as Vyce lavishes the now hard nub with his tongue. He gently pushes Linksano back against the headboard, kissing up from his chest to his ear. Vyce s voice is deep and breathy as he bites Linksano s ear. I want you.

Linksano doesn t hesitate to answer, I m yours. It s a conditioned response that Vyce has beaten into him plenty of times before and he doesn t dare deny him.

They kiss, Vyce hungry and dominating. Do you love me? He asks when he pulls away. Linksano wraps his arms around Vyce s shoulders to keep him there for another series of kisses; rehearsed words that have no meaning to Linksano escaping his lips in a heady sigh. So much, Blue.

Without his suit, Vyce is a handsome Asian man with almond shaped eyes, high cheek bones, dark brown hair that brushes over his shoulders. He's at least late twenties with light, nearly white skin paired with a tall, athletic build. The paleness is odd, but Vyce once told him that he has spent years in-between dimensions hunting for the Entity and has rarely been off the ship and out of the suit.

Linksano on the other hand, is in his mid thirties, short, a good few pounds overweight that is clearly visible around his waist, and not very athletic. He s always been the glasses wearing nerd at the top of his class. He has had a few girlfriends, but he couldn t call them real relationships. He was never able to reach a point where he saw them as more than friends. Until Vyce, he had never done more than a few kisses with 80 s Chick because he thought something might be wrong with him.

It s not that he was waiting for the right one and it s not like he isn t interested in sex. It s simply something he never got around to. As if there is a barrier that lets him know a person looks nice, but it does nothing for him.

Despite this, perhaps because Vyce has been his world for years now, he does find Vyce sexually attractive. It s clear that Vyce thinks the same of him, but Linksano s never been able to figure out why. What makes him appealing to a guy who could have anyone he likes? That woman who looks like Linkara s girlfriend, she probably wouldn t say no and there have been a few Champions who were homosexual if that really is Vyce s cup of tea, but he s wanted no one but him.

An answer comes crawling into his brain, one he s thought for awhile now. Wayne was the Champion, and he the Champion s brother. He supposes Vyce feels he s entitled to the spoils of war.

Vyce kisses his cheek, asking him a new question. "Were there others while you were away?"

Linksano s eyes open wide, staring at Vyce as if he d just grown two heads. It takes a moment for fear to clear the shock away, his heart rapidly beating pure terror through his veins. He shivers as Vyce stares down at him, his green eyes intently watching him from an emotionless face masking whatever he really is thinking Linksano did while away from him.

Vyce isn t asking him this, is he? He s not accusing him of cheating. Oh god, how could he even think that? Did he make Vyce think that? How? Had he not been convincing enough with his words or kisses? He's only been away for a few months, surely he didn't forget how to act in front of Vyce. Is Vyce just testing him?

So scared by the sudden accusation, Linksano can only open his mouth, I but nothing more comes out.

Hm, Vyce tilts his head, as if he s merely curious, his tone annoyed, Do I have to punish you?

The threat removes the block from Linksano s throat, memories of beatings so bad that he couldn t leave the bed for days despite Vyce calling him useless and weak flooding his mind. No, please don t! I haven t done anything! I really haven t, Blue! I-

Vyce shoves two dry fingers into him, the sharp pain shooting up his spine. He throws his head back, hitting the headboard loudly as his body reflexively tries to move away. "Did you let someone dirty and unworthy have you?"

Linksano can hardly glace at at Asian men or men wearing dark clothing without suddenly feeling his chest tighten in fear, his breath shallow. He dreads masturbating now, always ashamed of what happened to him and afraid that Vyce would somehow find out and punish him. Sex isn t something he s even thought about or wanted since he left Vyce.

In fact, Linksano s terrified of it.

While on the run from Vyce, a woman once approached him to awkwardly ask if he d like to spend the night with her. She didn t know what had happened to him, he knew that, but it didn't stop the hair on his arms from standing up, the sudden nausea bubbling up his throat. Linksano panicked and ran, getting sick as he bolted out the door and into the streets. She didn't mean to scare him, but what Vyce would do if he saw Linksano talking to another person, if he even became aware that he had spoken to someone else, did. He never forgot what happened to Pollo.

All he could do while away from him is think of Vyce. Despite fleeing, he never found peace or rest. He always feared Vyce and he didn't dare go a minute without looking over his shoulder or scanning the skies. He cannot get comfortable and jumped from nearly all dimensions as soon as he entered them even if Vyce wasn't detected near the one he was in. The only exception is the most recent Earth. Linkara and company are fun to torment even if most of his plans went awry. There is just something about the place that makes him want to stay.

He finally breathes again, but his breath comes out in pants, making him light headed. "N-no, Blue. All I could ever think of was you."

Vyce gives a short laugh and removes his fingers, much to Linksano's relief. I m only teasing. No need to be defensive.

His fingers soon return to his entrance, wet and cold. They push in, the gel Vyce is using letting him slip easily in but stinging slightly thanks to Vyce's rough treatment. He isn't sure if he's 'safe' or if Vyce is thinking of something else, but Vyce's fingers feel nice and he wants-'needs'-to please him. Linksano opens his legs more and Vyce kisses down his stomach. Vyce dips his tongue into his belly button in time with his fingers, looking up at Linksano through his lashes when the other man groans and smiles like something wicked.

A moment later, Linksano is engulfed in his wonderful wet and hot mouth.

"Fuck!" He says and without thinking his hand reaches down to Vyce's hair and buries itself in soft, long locks. He feels more than hears Vyce hum, pleased with Linksano's response.

Aside from the rare occasions where Vyce will let him ride on top, this is the closest the conquer of worlds will get to being on the bottom. It's not something Linksano's ever going to complain about, he knows better than that, but it's a nice change of pace that makes it seems like a real relationship to him.

At the moment though, he could care less who is in-between his legs sucking him off. The pleasure is something he can fall into and, for a moment, forget the fact that he's nothing but a prisoner here. He can forget that he's Vyce's plaything as long as he keeps the other man in a good mood. Here, Linksano can happily pretend that Vyce loves him, really does love him, and that he loves Vyce back.

Vyce swirls his tongue around him and he bucks. He feels hands on his hips and Vyce continues to bob his head, leaving once to use the tip of his tongue to brush the top of Linksano's cock. He hisses, swearing again as his body lights up with pleasure.

Vyce slides his hand around the base, firmly stroking him as he sucks the head. He pulls away and Linksano lets go of his hair. Vyce's hand plays over the warm, wet flesh. Linksano can't help but feel a burst of pleasure spread over his loins as he sees a flushed Vyce, lips shiny and panting slightly. Vyce's green eyes meet his brown ones. He could drown in those eyes and he will likely die while looking into them.

He's suddenly there, ready to come and Vyce notices the change in his breathing and the speed that he's bucking his hips with. For one, terrible moment, Vyce let's go of him completely as Linksano rolls his head back, clenching his eyes shut as if he is in pain and letting a whine loose from his throat.

It is painful in a way that there is no pain. The loss of stimulation makes his body scream in frustration, but soon Vyce has him in his mouth again, sucking and licking with vigor. Linksano lifts his head to watch, hand flying back to Vyce's hair in a thoughtless bid to keep him there this time. Vyce hallows his cheeks, whips of hair falling lazily across his forehead to brush his nose and Linksano comes with a loud groan. He pushes his hips up, Vyce never leaving Linksano's cock unattended despite the now painful grip in his hair.

Linksano's body suddenly collapses onto the bed. He's loose and open and his mind is lost in the bliss of an intense orgasm. He feels Vyce move to lie over top of him. Linksano tiredly opens his eyes as Vyce slips his arms under his shoulders, warm hands pressing gently against his back.

"Seems you enjoyed that," Vyce states smiling and kisses Linksano on the cheek.

"Yes," he replies, answering as both a satisfied lover and, deep in the back of his mind where his fear of Vyce still exists, as a conditioned doll.

He kisses Vyce, and the other man adds his tongue into the mix. Linksano can taste a faint trace of himself in Vyce's mouth. He doesn't like it, but he's not going to complain. He's clearly been good enough and Vyce is rewarding him.

Vyce pulls away and says breathily, "I'm going to fuck you. I'm going to come so far inside you that you'll never be without me. Do you understand? You belong to me and only me. I will not tolerate others. Never!"

Linksano knows it's going to happen, knows he can't stop it, wishes Vyce will wait a few minutes so that it'll be pleasurable when he stuffs himself inside, but he bites his lip and fights his fear. Vyce has been so good to him today, he can't ruin it now simply because he can't stomach some discomfort.

Vyce doesn't wait, shoving inside and as deep as possible. Linksano grunts in pain, but says nothing as Vyce pushes in as far as he can go and pulls out almost all the way before impaling Linksano again. "Only look at me, Oscar. No one else is good enough for you!" Vyce nips at his throat, Linksano reaching around Vyce's shoulders to hold onto him. His thrusting is fast and chaotic, wanting to taint his insides again with his very being.

There is a small bit of pleasure, but not enough time has elapsed for his body to calm down. He's over stimulated and still trying very hard not to beg Vyce to stop.

It feels like forever by the time Vyce comes and Linksano is somehow hard again, but he's not interested in coming for a second time. He just wants Vyce to finish and let him rest. It'll be impossible for him to come again anyway. He'll need at least half an hour and he prays Vyce is sated enough with this to give him that.  
-

Linksano feels the heavy weight of Mechakara's gaze on his back as he works on repairing a Shade.

Mechakara does not like him; and it's because of that damned 'interest' of his. It's only grown stronger and now that Vyce is fed up with him, Mechakara is scheming ways to insure that he doesn't disappoint Vyce again. Linksano knows that Mechakara wants him out of his way for Vyce's affection. He wants to take the place of what he sees as a rival.

He isn't blind to what else Vyce uses Linksano for, nor has it escaped Linksano's notice that Mechakara finds humor that an alternate Linkara is reduced to nothing more than a forced laborer and sex slave. Linksano would love nothing more than to throw off Vyce's affection and let Mechakara have it. Mechakara's new skin is based on a cast of Linksano himself with a few modifications after all, but there is no substitute for Vyce. He wants the real Linksano and all other reality versions of him are fakes in comparison.

To Vyce, Mechakara is nothing but a robot in disguise.

Mechakara surely knows this, but it's clear that the robot thinks if he can find away to get rid of Linksano, he can take his place.

This leads to the current stalking of Linksano's work place.

'It doesn't matter if you kill me. He'll never have you.' He wants to say it out loud to the robot, but he doesn't want to be beaten by Mechakara as well. Vyce, due to his anger at Mechakara's, has been very rough with him the last few nights and his throat and back still ache. Linksano isn't interested in making his wounds worse.

Mechakara strolls into his vision from his left, his hand cradling the elbow of his other arm as he takes the thinker pose with his right hand. Linksano looks up at him through the top of his lashes, his goggles lying on the desk, never lifting his head from his work. He looks away from him and back to his task.

'Intimidation isn't going to work, buddy. Believe me, I'd let you have the bastard if I knew how to fall out of his favor.'

While he has lots of work to do, he can't become absorbed in it with Mechakara circling him like a vulture. He doesn't want to speak to him at all, and Vyce might punish him for it, but it doesn't seem that Mechakara is going away anytime soon.

"Did you want something?"

There's a mechanical hum before Mechakara speaks in a lazy tone. "No, nothing really."

Linksano always has to suppress a shiver when the robot speaks, his voice inhuman and disturbing. Mechakara smiles, aware of how his voice and appearance affects Linksano.

A bit of silence goes by as Linksano removes a few chips and parts from the disabled Shade. He pulls a rag from his mess of tools on the table, stained with used oil and grease and wipes away the grime from the larger pieces. The inner workings of this Shade seem fine though dated, so it must be the programming.

Discovering this doesn t please him, as this Shade is the twin to the older model from a few years ago. That event still weighs heavily on his conscience and he will not make the same mistakes.

He will save this one. He won t let Vyce kill it this time. 


	4. Chapter 4

AN: Did Linkara ever say exactly 'how' Linksano contacted him? They must have found some way of doing it through the temporal shields while at the same time remaining undetected by Vyce and Mechakara. And before someone chimes in with it, I did think about Mechakara's hand, but that was a direct connection to Vyce. I mean, yeah, Linksano could probably call Linkara through it, but not the other way around. On top of that, I think Linkara would have found the link much sooner to taunt Vyce if that had been how they did it.  
-

Both Linkara and Angry Joe watched the image of Vyce's ship drift through a portal, it's large, V-shaped bulk entering their dimension.

"That looks really nasty dude."

Linkara had to agree. While he only briefly been in Vyce's presents, he'd mostly fought Shades thus far. He didn't even see what Vyce looked like, only felt sharp claws grab a hold of his shirt collar and pull it back, looking for something on his right shoulder. He didn't know if Vyce found what he was looking for or not, he just let go of him and ordered the Shades to take him to a cell.

In the few moments he'd been in the same room, Vyce had given him the impression of an unmovable ice wall; strong, stubborn, and uncaring. The Shades, along with Mechakara already made him an impressive and deadly foe. The only question now was how large his forces were and how did Vyce himself fight?

The absolute worst thing that could happen right now was that Vyce was ready to attack. They weren't prepared for this. There was still so much they didn't know about Vyce. "What do we do? Is there anything?"

He heard Joe breathe out over the intercom. "Not at this time. Right now I've got my guys looking into it, but from the looks of that ship, it's going to be a hell of a battle if he attacks."

"Okay, we ll do the same down here on my end. I'll let you know if we figure out anything. Linkara out."

"Angry Joe out."

Linkara walked quickly into the other room, finding Pollo and informing him of Vyce. "Have you heard anything from Linksano?"

"No. His next report should be in a few days."

He shook himself in frustration. "Damn it! Pollo, find out everything you can, I'll inform the others and check the weapons. If Vyce or Mechakara come, I want to be as ready as we can be."

Despite Linkara's fears, Vyce didn't seem to do anything over the next week. The threat still lingered in the back of their minds, but Linkara found the time to read and write for his next review. He needed something to get his mind off of Vyce and why not a shitty comic? Thankfully, Pollo was able to keep a watch on things while Linkara relaxed, and when he was mentally ready to face the problem again, he asks Pollo about it.

"The ship re-mai-ns in or-bit. Com-mun-i-cat-ions att-emps fr-om a few na-tions ha-ve be-en ma-de, but the-re has be-en no re-spon-ce."

So Vyce wasn't interested in speaking to the world leaders and cutting deals. He was here to take over by force and no one was going to play politics with him. That really didn't boad well and only cemented Linkara's theory about how vicious Vyce was.

He took his DS off the table, having enchanted it to link to Joe's security footage. He brought up the videos of Vyce's ship, watching what had occurred in the last few hours. "What the? There are satellites that have come in contact with this thing and have just vanished!"

"No, wat-ch the foot-aged slow-ed do-wn."

Linkara did, rendering the video to a third of its normal speed. "Ah, now that 'is' very interesting. The satellites aren't vanishing, they're being destroyed, just very quickly."

How was Vyce able to do that? He wasn't firing on them or sending out scout ships, he was just simply running by them.

"So how are th-ey be-ing de-stro-yed so quick-ly?"

Linkara had a rough idea. "That ship if emitting some kind of...time shield around it. Keeping it out of sync with our universe's time scale."

He was taking a leap in logic here, but it was really the only thing that it could be. While Linkara had been missing for a month, he had experienced three days on Vyce's ship. The only way that was possible was if Vyce had somehow been able to encase his whole ship into a protective shell that kept time for him at a much slower pace than the dimension he was in. "Days or weeks could pass and it would only be minutes aboard that ship."

"Whi-ch me-ans th-at the sh-ip can-not be att-ack-ed by con-ven-tio-nal weap-ons," Pollo said, quickly understanding what Linkara was getting at.

As long as that time shield stayed up, there wasn't anything they could do to Vyce's ship. He'd always have a safe haven to retreat to and an impenetrable base to operate from. "Exactly! Launch a missile at the thing, and until it actually penetrates the shield - which it can't - from their point of view, it looks like it's taking forever. And it gives them ample time to calculate its position and end it before it becomes a threat."

"For the mo-ment, the-re's no-thing we can do but wait. I'll try to get as much in-for-ma-tion as I can but ho-pe-ful-ly th-is will all tur-n out to be no-th-ing."

Nothing indeed. Vyce was sure to use all of this to his advantage. "And if it is Vyce, it looks like he's finally making his move." Linkara would leave room for errors, as there was always a chance he was wrong, but he had no doubts that it was Vyce. The inside of the ship had been just as indulgent of his ego as the outside, V's and green lights everywhere. There was absolutely no question as to who this ship belonged to.

However, Mechakara attacked a week later out of nowhere.

He is with Vyce on the bridge when they get the news of Mechakara's defeat.

It's an amazing showdown between the robot, who has somehow grown to ginormas size, and Linkara, who pulled a giant robot from somewhere. Linksano did an impressive amount of work on Mechakara, but it's nowhere near what he could have actually accomplished. It was meant to be enough of an upgrade to please both Vyce and the robot but not give them an edge to win.

When the battle started, Vyce invited him to watch his handiwork in action. He had meant this to be a gesture of good faith that Linksano had done as he was told and met Vyce's expectations. If Linkara died, there was no question that Vyce would celebrate with sex tonight and expect Linksano to have the same joyous vigor.

Maybe it 'should' have ended up that way, then Vyce wouldn't be choking him. "You come to me with promises of superior technology, upgrades for my systems and the android, and what is the result?"

Linksano struggles against Vyce's grip, which only tightens around his throat, the claws digging in and he can feel blood slipping down his neck and into his shirt collar. "A wrecked machine and this universe's champion even more powerful than before!"

Vyce's grip tightens again, Linksano's heart racing as he tries to breathe. This isn't the first time he has disappointed Vyce, it's not even the first time Vyce has threatened to kill him, but it doesn't make him any braver to have to go through it again. He tries his best to speak, to calm Vyce down before there's lasting damage, before Vyce 'really does' kill him.

"Y-you see-one thing you have to realize-is that-"

"Enough with this foolishness." Vyce throws him into the nearest wall. He lands against one of the V's with a sickening thud before crashing to the floor on a knee, his left shoulder taking most of the damage. Spikes of pain shoot through his bones, his eyes tearing, the pain so bad that he's unable to scream. Linksano's knee doesn't fair all better, a sharp pain throbbing up into his thigh and down to his shin.

It's enough to cause him to roll onto the floor, curling into a ball as he cradles his shoulder. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he worries if it's broken as Vyce continues to scream obscenities at both him and Linkara. "You guaranteed me victory, Oscar! I've spared your life after you betrayed me, after you left me! After everything I've done for you and you can't even do this right? How many times must I be constantly reminded that I cannot count on anyone but myself in my battles?"

Linksano tries to roll over so that he can keep Vyce in his sight in case he tries to fallow up with a flurry of kicks or something worse; but, thankfully Vyce keeps ranting. "If I am to finally confront and destroy the Entity, it must be here! I did not wish to make my presents known, but there is no more time. I will deal with the champion myself!"

Through the pain and his own terrified thoughts, Linksano does register what Vyce has just said. Shit, shit! He needs to warn Linkara. He needs to delay Vyce, he needs to get up off his ass and do something fucking useful before Vyce-

It's too late, Vyce is gone.

"DAMN IT!" He screams, the nearby Shades paying him no mind. They won't help him up or take him somewhere to be treated. They only serve Lord Vyce and their only orders now are to keep him prisoner.

He tries to get up, his shoulder resisting any and all movement. Linksano's knee is comfortable being bent, but extending it hurts like hell. Linksano leans against the wall, using his good arm to pull himself up with the V shape next to him. He limps into a standing position, his knee already hating him, but not as much as his shoulder does.

Linksano tries to think through the pain, desperately tries to think of how to save Linkara or at least give him an edge; but with the Shades around and now injured as he is, he isn't capable of tampering with the ships controls or even teleporting himself anywhere. The Shades will stop him even before he can try. No, he can't risk exposing that he is a saboteur.

Perhaps he can make it into the next room? There wouldn't be any Shades in there for the next five minutes or so, he might have enough time- No, by the time he's able to hobble to a room, any room free of Shades, Vyce will already be at least a week ahead of now, fighting Linkara. Hell, he might have killed Linkara by now and will return shortly with this head.

Linksano doesn't want that, he doesn't want Linkara to die. Linkara is his ticket out of this hell hole, but what more can he expect to happen? No one has ever beaten Vyce. Wayne couldn't do it, that hulking green guy in that one universe couldn t do it, why did he ever think Linkara could?

If he waits a few minutes more, minutes that seem like hours even on Vyce's ship, he will have his answer. 


End file.
